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Saturday, 15 December 2012

Blog Carolling - Silent Night (Stille Nacht)

Blog Carolling is something new to me, but I am pleased to follow the request to join in from FootnoteMaven’s,

My all time faovurite carol is " Silent Night" in a simple unadorned arrangement, like the original, with guitar accompaniment. It has beautiful harmony and is very moving sung softly, especially in German which reminds us of favourite holidays in Bavaria and Austria.

Silent night, holy nightAll is calm, all is
brightRound yon Virgin Mother and ChildHoly Infant so tender and
mildSleep in heavenly peaceSleep in heavenly peaceStille Nacht, Heilige NachtAlles sclaft. einsam wachtNur das traute heilige PaarHolden Knabe in lockigten HaarSchlafe in himmlische RuhSchlafe in himmlische RuhIt was Dec. 24th ,1818 in a small Austrian village called Oberndorf, just hours before Christmas mass and pastor Joseph Mohr's musical plans for the evening service were in ruins, since the organ of his church (St. Nicholas Kirche) had broken down. In a moment of inspiration, he found a Christmas poem he had written two years earlier and asked his friend Franz Gruber, the church organist, to set it to music for the choir and congregation to sing.

Franz Gruber's composed that night the first version of the world renowned Christmas carol “Stille Nacht”, sung to a guitar. Sing along with this lovely German version, with a harp accompaniment at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6gnRvumDiA

Not Oberndorf Church, Austria, but one in the typical style of the region- Ramsau Church, Bavaria (my own photograph)

4 comments:

Hi Susan! Silent Night is one of two (the other one is Away in a Manger) Christmas Carols I learned to sing as a young child. It is a beautiful song and thank you for sharing this German version of it on the tour this year. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

What a delight Susan. Thanks for the background to this glorious Christmas Carol, which I've always loved ... and the link to those angelic voices. It has reached into my very soul and given it a bit of a tweak. Wishing you, and yours, a truly wonderful Christmas... Catherine

About Me

I have been interested in family history for years. It all began when I was allowed as a child to look through the old family photographs and memorabilia kept in a shoebox in the cupboard at my grandfather's house. That treat started me on a fascinating ancestral trail.